■^80 HISTORY OF 



(ins and a vvliitisli buck ; that with a spout in the iie<'k ; that 

 with a spout in the snout ; that with three fins and sharp-pointed 

 teeth ; that with three fins and sharp -edged teeth ; and, lastly, the 

 cachalot, with three fins and flatted teeth. 



Tliis tribe is not of such enormous size as the whale, properly 

 so called, not being above sixty feet long, and sixteen feet high. 

 In consequence of their being more slender, they are much more 

 active than the common whale ; they remain a longer time at the 

 bottom ; and afford a smaller quantity of oil. As in the com- 

 mon whale the head was seen to make a third part of its bulk, 

 so in this species the head is so large as to make one half of the 

 whole. The tongue of this animal is small, but the throat is 

 very I'ormidable ; and with very great ease it could swallow an 

 ox. In the stomach of the whale scarcely any thing is to be 

 found; but in that of the cachalot there are loads of fish of dif- 

 ferent kinds ; some whole, some half digested, some small, and 

 others eight or nine feet long. The cachalot is, therefore, as 

 destructive among lesser fishes, as the whale is harmless ; and 

 can at one gulp swallow a shoal of fishes down its enormous 

 gullet. — LinniEus tells us that this fish pursues and terrifies the 

 dolphins and porpoises so much, as often to drive them on shore. 



But, how formidable soever this fish may be to its fellows of 

 the deep, it is by far the most valuable, and the most sought 

 after by man, as it contains two very precious drugs, spermaceti 

 and ambergris. The use of these, either for the purposes of 

 luxury or medicine, is so universal, that the capture of this ani 

 mal, that alone supplies them, turns out to very great advantage, 

 particularly since the art has been found out of converting all the 

 oil of this animal, as well as the brain, into that substance called 

 spermaceti. 



This substance, as it is naturally formed, is found in the head 

 of the animal, and is no other than the brain. The outward 

 skin ot the head being taken off, a covering of fat offers ibout 

 three inches thick ; and under that, instead of a bony skull, the 

 animal has only another thick skin that serves for a covering and 

 defence of the brain. The first cavity or chamber of the brain, 

 is filled with that spermaceti which is supposed of the greatest 

 purity and highest value. From this cavity there is generally 

 drawn about seven barrels of the clearest spermaceti, that thrown 

 upon water coagulates like cheese. Below this there is another 



